


Abuelita is Coming

by pokemnstar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuban Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sam Holt's Messages, Slow Burn, minor references to future seasons, s5 compliant, we only see lance's family tho, y'know from the paladins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-04 18:14:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14598843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pokemnstar/pseuds/pokemnstar
Summary: Lance's family never believed the Garrison's excuse for their son's disappearance. After receiving Lance's message from Sam Holt, they decide to find him.Wherever he might be.





	1. In Which Cartoons Solve Everything

They never believed the Garrison. Not on that fateful day, almost a year ago, when they said Lance had dropped out and ran away. His life goal had been to see the stars and explore. He wouldn’t drop out, and he especially wouldn’t stay away from home. He spent every free moment either on the phone with them, or planning out his next trip home. There was no way he’d just leave them like that. 

It all started with little Carlos watching his Saturday Morning Cartoons™. Everyone else was either asleep, or out on the nearby beach when they heard the knock on the door, and Carlos’ following shriek. Rosa, who had been making breakfast, dropped her pan, spilling scrambled eggs on the floor. She ran to see what had happened, with a spatula in her hand, ready to see what scared Carlos. Almost everyone else soon ran in after her.

“This man says he knows what happened to Uncle Lance!” Carlos shouted happily over the small crowd of adults as his twin sister, Maria walked in, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

The adults immediately started shouting questions in the direction of the man standing in the doorway. Rosa dragged him inside, sat him down on the couch, and asked, “Who are you, and how do you know what happened to my son? I need to know.”

The gray-haired man introduced himself as Sam Holt, the leader of the missing Kerberos mission. He explained that the two other members were also alive. He took a deep breath. “This may sound a little crazy ma’am, but I need you to believe me.”

Rosa nodded vigorously, ready for any knowledge of her youngest son’s whereabouts. 

Sam looked at her, a completely serious expression on his face. “Your son is in space, fighting a war against the Galra Empire. He’s a paladin of Voltron, a defender of the universe.”

The room was completely silent. Luis held up his phone and played a cricket sound effect. Carlos and Maria giggled, but stopped when they saw the almost murderous look on Marco’s face. After it repeated twice, Rosa further broke the silence.

“How—”

Marco stepped in, his voice cold and uncaring as he glared at the older man. “Hold on a minute Mami. How do we know he isn’t making this up? It’s not like Lance can verify it.”

“Marco—“ Rosa began warningly, before Sam interrupted her.

“I’m not here to tell you made-up stories about your son. However, I did bring something for you, so you can hear him say it himself.” Saying this, he pulled a small device out of his bag. He pressed a button, and it immediately converted to a disk-like shape.

He looked imploringly at Rosa. “May I?” She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Having gotten all the confirmation he needed, he inserted the dvd into the tv. Everyone stared at it for a moment, waiting for the screen to flicker to life. 

Veronica looked irritated. “Why isn’t it playing?” she demanded, “I swear if you’re lying about knowing my brother I’ll—“

Luis interrupted her, looked at the tv, and asked, “Is the television set to the right input?”

Everyone stared at him for a second, and then looked at the television with pure annoyance on their faces. Sam just looked confused. 

Marco piped up, asking, “Do any of us actually know how to change the input?”

Sam looked as though he had just been told that this was just an odd subversion to introduce another character and add more to the family member’s personalities.

Everyone shook their head. Camilla looked away, as she seemed to be debating something. Rosa looked at her, silently trying to convince her of whatever it was she was reluctant to do. Camilla slightly shook her head, and Rosa sighed.

Taking a deep breath, Rosa shouted out “HÉCTOR!!!”

The man in question stumbled out of his bedroom as he looked at the two sisters imploringly. He tried to act cool, but didn’t manage cover the fact that he was slightly trembling.

Rosa raised an eyebrow. “We need you to change the input.”

Héctor groaned. “Where’s Lance when you need him—“ He was cut off by Rosa‘s piercing glare.

“Just change the input so I can hear from my son.”

At that Héctor looked confused. “But Marco and Luis are right here? Who else could you hear fro—” He paused, seeming to have finally realized. “Oh also who’s this dude sitting on the couch?”

Camilla sighed. “Dios mio, just change the input Héctor.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll change it,” he said tiredly as he fiddled with the controls on the tv.

The screen flickered to life, and Rosa paused it. She almost seemed like she was stalling for dramatic effect, though it wasn’t very dramatic. “We’re missing someone.” She looked at Marco. 

“Go get Abuelita.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhh hi y'all! This is my first fic, so I'm just gonna roll with it I guess. These are probably gonna be pretty short, since I seem to be incapable of writing anything longer than like 3 pages. Oof. Anyway, I came up with this idea a while ago, and I finally got around to writing it, so I hope you guys like it!


	2. In Which Abuelita Enters, and (Almost) Everyone Cries

As soon as Rosa finished speaking, a voice drenched with suspicion was then heard from the hallway.

“Go get me for what?”

Sam Holt stood in awe of this tiny old woman, who looked so frail, and yet held herself with all the confidence of a general in the midst of battle, shouting orders at her troops in the center of the destruction and chaos.

Following closely behind was a very nicely dressed young woman with glasses and a pencil skirt. She walked over to Luis, and Sam assumed she was his wife, Daniella. Carlos and Maria had told him as much, anyway.

Marco turned to Abuelita and explained to her what was going on.

“So what are we waiting for?” She demanded, “Let’s see what our Lance has sent for us.”

Rosa faltered for only a moment, before remembering why they were all gathered in the first place. She turned to Sam, and nodded for him to start the recording.

The screen flickered to life, and everyone was met with the sight of someone they’d been waiting to see for almost a year.

Carlos and Maria began jumping and shouting as if the smiling boy on the screen could actually hear them. “Uncle Lance! Uncle Lance!” Their shouts of joy were interrupted by Daniella shushing them, pulling them closer to where she and Luis were standing.

Rosa was on the verge of tears as her missing son began speaking.

“Hi guys. Long time no see, even though I can’t actually see you. I hope everything is good over there. How’s Marco’s band? Is Abuelita doing okay? How big are the twins now? Is Luis as terrible a father as we all thought he was going to be?”

At that, Luis brought his hand to his heart and pretended to faint. At least Sam knew where Lance got his dramatics from now. At the same time, Abuelita raised an eyebrow. 

“I’m better than you’ll ever be mijo.”

Lance continued speaking. “As the guy who brought you this, Sam Holt, probably already told you, I’m in space. Which sounds a little wild, but hear me out. I’m currently the Red Paladin of Voltron, which is like—” He faltered, clearly trying to remember something. “Oh! Vero! You remember the show we used to watch when we were little? GoLion or whatever? Yeah it’s kinda like that.”

Veronica nodded as her eyes flooded with tears, threatening to spill over at any second as she let out a weak laugh.

“I basically fly this giant robotic lion that connects with four other robotic lions to form a huge sword-wielding robot. I know it sounds weird, but I swear it’s cool.” He paused once more, seeming to think about his next words. “I’ve become a huge part of an intergalactic war. This alien species called the Galra captured the members of the Kerberos mission, and have been taking over the universe for ten thousand years. We just haven’t heard of it because our system is so far away. We recently managed to kill the emperor of the Galra. That's why we felt safe enough to send Sam Holt back home with messages to our families, and let him reunite with his wife.”

Sam nodded, further verifying what Lance was saying. 

Lance continued talking, giving a brief history of the war, and telling them about everything Voltron had accomplished. He spoke about his teammates in great detail, gushing over their skills and talents. He was especially excited to tell them that Hunk was with him, as he was basically an honorary McClain at this point. 

Marco laughed at that part, probably picturing Hunk fighting aliens with homemade cookies.

Eventually, Lance stopped, clearly lost in thought. 

He began again, seeming almost uncertain. “I think— I think I’m going to ask Allura if I can go home. I’m not really needed here. Keith can take back Red, and then they’ll have the perfect Voltron. I can come back to live with you guys. I can see you all again.” He was smiled sadly, and his voice was quivering with a small amount of hope… and something else Sam couldn’t quite place. “I’ve missed you guys so much. I miss you guys, and home, and going to the beach together, but I think what I’ve missed most of all are Mamá’s hugs.”

Rosa let out a soft cry at his last statement. The tears rolling down her face mirrored her son’s as he finished his message.

“I’ll talk to Allura. Try to convince her. No matter what happens, never forget that I love you all.”

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, desperately trying to process what they’d just heard.

Veronica was the first to say anything. She stood up suddenly, snapping everyone out of their trances. “So we’re just going to leave him in space?”

Héctor sighed. “What else can we do? It’s not like we can steal a ship from the Garrison to go find him.”

Camilla looked at her husband, clearly annoyed.

Veronica looked thoughtful, before a mischievous smirk settle itself on her face. “You know Uncle Héctor, that’s not a bad idea.”

Héctor sighed as though he had known what her plan was from the beginning. “There’s no way I’m getting out of this, is there?”

Marco shook his head and grinned. “Nope!”

A determined look crossed Rosa’s face as she spoke for the first time since the message had finished.

“We have to go get him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you may have noticed, I changed Alexandra's name to Rosa. After thinking about it for a while, I just decided to go with the fandom's name for her, since I liked it more anyway. Uhhh I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	3. In Which Lance Tries His Best, And Things Escalate Quickly

As he stood nervously outside Allura’s door, Lance couldn’t help but mentally rehearse what he was going to say to the Altean Princess. He’d promised his family he was going to come home. He had to convince everyone to let him leave.

Halfway through his second rehearsal, Allura suddenly slammed the door open, startling Lance. She looked surprised as well, though that surprise was quickly covered up with annoyance.

“Always great to see you. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well actually, I need to talk to you and the rest of the team. Is there any way you can call a team meeting?” Lance asked nervously.

“For your sake, I hope this is important. You know how Shiro’s been acting these days.” Allura sighed. “I’m honestly not convinced he’s the same man that you rescued that fateful day. He doesn’t act the same, and his demeanor has changed. He’s much crueler, though I guess that could be attributed to being captured by the Galra twice.”

Lance murmured his agreement. “Please call the meeting Princess. I’ll be waiting in the control room.”

As he walked away, he heard the Allura’s voice on the intercom. “Everyone, please meet in the control room as soon as possible. One of your fellow paladins wishes to speak with us all about an important matter.”

He stood silently in the control room, waiting for Pidge and Hunk, as everyone else had already gathered. 

Coran gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright my boy? You seem a bit off.”

Lance smiled at the older altean. “I’m okay. I just really need to talk to you all about something important to me.”

He heard Pidge snicker from the doorway as she and Hunk entered the room. “Lance’s version of important is probably just demanding to know who ate his leftovers from yesterday’s dinner.”

Hunk elbowed her as Lance’s heart sank.

_Who was he kidding? They weren’t going to take him seriously. He might as well give up now._

At that thought, he shook his head and gathered all his resolve. 

“So I gathered you all here because I need to talk to you about something really important.”

Pidge smirked. “You said that already. Hurry this up, I have a project I need to get back to”

Lance ignored her, and took a deep breath. “I want to leave the team.”

The room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Hunk was the first to break the silence. “Lance, buddy, you can’t leave. The team needs you. _I_ need you.”

Lance smiled sadly. “This team hasn’t needed me for a while now. You guys can have the perfect Voltron. You can call Keith back from the Blades and--”

He was cut off by someone with a very familiar mullet entering the room. “Call me back for what?”

Pidge suddenly seemed to have finished processing what Lance had said. Her reaction was like lighting a match in a room full of firewood drenched in gasoline. “You can’t leave the team! If _I_ couldn’t leave to go find my family, I don’t think _you_ should get to either. Besides, who would pilot Red?”

Hunk looked at her, clearly disappointed.

Lance fixed her with a cold look. “The circumstances were different then. We didn’t have a different pilot for the green lion. And for your second question, it doesn’t matter anyway, we all know Keith was much better at piloting Red than I was. Isn’t that right buddy?”

Keith was speechless. “Lance-- you can’t seriously be thinking--”

“You’ve always been better at me than everything. A better pilot, a better paladin. I know you can keep them safe.”

A harsh voice cut through the following silence. “Let him go.” Shiro was glaring at Lance. “He’s a useless paladin anyway. We’d be a much better team with Keith piloting the Red Lion instead.”

Everyone stared at him, horrified. 

“How could you--” 

“How _dare_ you.”

“Shiro, I can’t beli--”

“Everyone stop,” Keith called out. “Lance isn’t going anywhere.”

The false smile plastered on Lance’s face immediately drained, leaving nothing but fear and despair behind. Lance turned to him, all of his usual warmth gone. “Don’t even talk to me about not going to my family. You ran off with the Blades and just left us all here. You are the last person who should try to convince me to stay with the team. _Hypocrite_.”

Keith guiltily looked at the floor, not wanting to see Lance’s expression. “I… I did what was best--”

Lance glared at him. “So leaving us was for the best? You left us when we needed you the most. When _I_ needed you the most. How dare you come crawling back talking about loyalty when my family needs me. But I suppose you wouldn’t know about that now, would you?” Lance turned away, leaving the older boy in shock as he left the room.

Hunk looked at Keith sadly, “He has a point, you know. You kind of just left us out of nowhere. With Matt back in the picture, Pidge and I may have unknowingly ignored him in favor of Matt, and that definitely didn’t help his insecurity, but you not being there for him made matters much worse.”

Keith stared at the door. “Guess I’ll have to go after him then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that escalated quickly. I feel like Lance wouldn't usually get that angry, but the way Keith and Pidge talked to him just sent him over the edge, Probably. The next chapter will focus on Lance's family, so get ready for that? I guess? Also, I should probably add that I'm going to try to update at least once a week. Hopefully. Also I finally figured out how to add italics, so there's that.


	4. In Which Hector (Almost) Ruins Everything

Unfortunately for the McClain-Sanchez family, sneaking into the Garrison was nowhere near as easy as they’d hoped. They’d said goodbye to Sam shortly after hearing Lance’s message, as he’d been very eager to return home to his wife after three years in space. It had all started off well enough. Veronica knocked out several guards and took their uniforms. When questioned, she’d simply reply with, “It’s what they do in the movies!”. 

Either way, they managed to make it inside the control room… and Marco began looking up a map on one of the main consoles when an alarm immediately began going off. Luis ran around in circles while Dani, Veronica, and the twins attempted to barricade the door. Rosa rolled her eyes at her oldest son. “LUIS!” 

He immediately stopped and turned to look at her sheepishly. “Sorry Mami.”

Abuelita shook her head. “Now is not the time to continue such foolish antics. Help your wife barricade the door now mijo.”

Luis groaned. “Abuelitaaaa.”

She took off her shoe and hit it against the table. “AHORA.” Startled, he quickly ran to grab an empty desk to add to their little wall.

Hector looked around, suddenly seeming to have noticed the commotion. “Oh by the way guys, there’s a bunch of people in uniforms running in this direction.”

Camilla looked ready to slap her husband. “Of course there’s people running! We just broke into one of the most heavily guarded military institutions in America!”

Hector gulped. “Maybe I should’ve just stayed home”, he said as he slowly backed up towards the door. The second he began attempting to pull a chair off the barricade, the entire thing was knocked over, allowing several Garrison security guards entry, and semi-burying Hector in office supplies. The man stood up, shoved one of the uniformed men over, and bolted. 

Just as Camilla was about to let out a sigh, the men slid over, forming a corridor of sorts for whoever was about to enter the room. At that moment, a tall man with a firmly closed left eye strolled into the room. This must be the Commander Iverson that Lance always told her about. His functioning eye was closed in a display of confidence as he dismissed the men who were waiting outside. 

“Well well, Miss Holt! Caught you here again have we--” He opened his eye, only to realize that there was in fact, not a “Miss Holt” in the room. He stared at Marco, who was still standing by the monitor. “Who might you all be, then?”

Abuelita glared at the Commander. “Get out of our way now. You don’t want to get in the way of finding our grandson, now do you?”

Iverson glared right back. “Ma’am, you have no authority here. I’m going to have to ask you to lea--” He was interrupted by Abuelita having thrown her shoe directly at him. It was a solid hit on his good eye. He yelled out in pain, temporarily blinded. 

Hector materialized behind him, and shoved the larger man over. He gestured for the others to follow him. “Remember this as the day you almost caught,” he paused for dramatic effect. Camilla seemed to realize what he was about to say a second too late. She moved to silence him, but he had already begun finishing his sentence, “--the McClain’s”

Everyone groaned. “Hector, you just told him who we are.”

He paled as Abuelita picked up her shoe and glared at him. 

They were all spurred into action by Iverson managing to activate his communication device. “We have intruders in the main control room. I repeat, the McClain family has invaded the facility.”

He was stopped by Marco’s shout as the younger boy managed to open the door to the hangar.

The family ran towards the newly opened hangar, with Veronica in the lead. They rushed into the room, all excited for the chance to see Lance again.

Their joy was cut short by a sound they didn't recognize. Rosa was the first to turn around to try and identify the sound, while the others quickly followed suit.

Rosa paled, the excitement visibly draining from her face.

A pair of guards closed the hangar door behind them, blocking their escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternatively titled: In Which Abuelita Hits Iverson With A Shoe
> 
> Sorry it's been a while since I last updated! (It's also a shorter chapter whoops) I've been busy trying to finish up school stuff, since tomorrow is the last day, but I'll hopefully be writing a lot more over the summer!


	5. In Which Lance Gets Salty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith attempts to talk to Lance,,, keyword being attempts

Lance curled up tighter in his sheets, tears slowly streaming down his face. 

This just proved his uselessness. He couldn’t even convince the team to let him leave. They didn’t actually need him. They just tried to make him stay because they felt bad for him. That’s right. It was just pity. Or they just wanted him to stay because they were jealous that they didn’t have a reason to go home yet. Or…

He fell further into his pit of despair, each new self deprecating thought and reason for why the team might want him here pushing him down further like a boulder crashing down on his head. If he stayed there any longer he knew he would suffocate in his own insecurities.

With a sigh he got out of bed and moved to get a glass of water. He opened his door… and saw Keith pacing outside.

Keith jumped as soon as he saw him, and the former Blue Paladin chalked it up to the shorter boy simply being surprised to see a bleary, red-eyed Lance. Lance ignored him and walked past, determined to get a glass of water and head back to his room, and avoid all human contact along the way.

Keith called his name, but Lance just kept walking towards the kitchen. The other boy grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him, but Lance just pushed him off and continued. He didn’t even realize the other boy had been speaking to him until he caught the phrase “Are you okay?”

At that he bristled, turning toward Keith with anger-filled eyes. “Why on earth would I be okay!?” His mother always described his eyes as reminding her of the ocean. It would only stand to reason that his eyes would resemble a storm now. Harsh and angry, with the power to destroy anything it pleases. When it came down to it, everything bowed down to the power of the sea. He stopped his internal monologuing when he saw the hurt in Keith’s eyes. Rather than address it though, he continued ignoring the other boy. He got his glass of water and hurried back to his room, Keith trailing behind like a lost puppy. It was only when he slammed the door shut that the other boy seemed to realize why he was pacing outside Lance’s door in the first place.

Only a moment later, there was a harsh pounding at Lance’s door. A voice sounded from the other side. “Lance, let me in.” He almost sounded… desperate? Pushing that thought aside, he double checked the lock on his door and went into his bathroom to start his nightly routine. After finishing applying his face cream, he realized how much more relaxed he felt. With a pang he wondered if Vero and his mother still did the skin care routine, even after he left. He knew his mother would, and though Vero never wanted to try it in the first place, he suspected she only did it to spend more time with him. He sat on his bed, reminiscing about his family, and the things they used to do together when his train of thought was derailed by the sound of his door opening. He caught a flash of green running away as Keith entered his room.

Lance looked away from him, voice cold. “I don’t want to talk to you.” Lance could almost imagine the look Keith was giving him right now, equal parts annoyed and hurt.

Keith sighed. “Lance, you can’t keep running away from me.”

“I’m not running away from you.”, he responded harshly. “That’s your job, and unlike you, I don’t run away when people need me.”

Keith turned to him angrily. “I didn’t run away--”

Lance laughed, but there was no joy behind it. “Then what do you call leaving us for the Blade of Marmora?”

“I left because the Blade needed me.”

“The Blade doesn’t need you Keith. They never have, and never will. They’re a self-sufficient organization who have been functioning for thousands of years without you. Face it Keith, you left because you didn’t want the responsibility of being the Black Paladin. That’s why you left as soon as Shiro was able to pilot Black again.”

“That’s not true-- I”, Keith fumbled desperately for the right words, and started again. “You know that’s not the reason, Lance.”

“Do I know that’s not the reason? We’ve barely even spoken since you left us for the Blades. Do you even know what’s been going on around here? Do you even know what’s been happening since you left?”

“I’m sure everything has been fine. Especially since Shiro--”

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re blinded by your past. Especially when it comes to Shiro. It always seems like you take his side no matter what. You never point out when he makes a mistake, so he thinks he’s perfect and starts enforcing his word as law. He won’t listen to me, he won’t listen to Allura, he won’t listen to anyone else’s opinions… sometimes I wonder if he’s the same man we rescued from the Garrison two years ago.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

The former Blue Paladin sighed. “He’s changed, Keith. When we were negotiating with Zarkon, he gave Lotor the black bayard without telling any of us. Sure, Zarkon is dead now, but that doesn;t change the fact that he should’ve at least talked it over with the rest of us. A few days ago, Lotor wanted us to take him to the Kral Zera, to take back his throne.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, voice drenched with suspicion. “And you just took him there?”  
Lance glared at the wall, eyes brimming with malice. “We didn’t take him there, Shiro did. When Lotor first came to us about the Kral Zera, none of us trusted him enough to take him. Except Shiro. And when we tried to convince him that it was a bad idea, he yelled at us and told us that without him, Zarkon would still be alive. He even told us that his opinion was the only one that mattered.”

Keith shook his head in disbelief. 

Lance fixed his glare back on the former Red Paladin. “Well, now that you learn just how badly you messed up by leaving us, it’s time for you to go.”

“Wait, what? Lance--” Keith’s complaints were cut off by Lance pushing him out the door and locking it again. He was going to have words with her about letting other people into their rooms. He fell back onto his bed and sighed. 

Maybe he’d have to find a way to leave without anyone knowing after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh so. I finished this yesterday, but I didn't have the chance to post it, so here it is,,, a day late. I had a little too fun writing Lance in this chapter. The next chapter is gonna focus on Lance's family ;)
> 
> edit: hey uh so remember when i said i was gonna post these like once a week? ive been doing a terrible job of that  
> i dont really know what im doing so ive been trying to figure out what i want to do with this story. im currently working on rewriting most of these chapters and trying to come up with an actual story so thats something. im also thinking of changing veronica's character to fit more with her personality in s7. the fic itself will probably stay s5 compliant tho


End file.
